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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (June 25, 1981)
movie review ‘raiders’ ranks with best By MATT MEYER Or **• EnwraM When I first looked at the ad in the newspaper, I thought Harri son Ford (of Star Wars fame) was starring in a Western It's a mistake anyone could make, seeing him glaring men acingly with a few days growth on his chin, a coiled whip on his shoulder, and a rumpled hat on his head I held off seeing it until I heard What you've heard is true Raiders of the Lost Ark is an incredible movie rating right up there with the greats, and with good reason Raiders was writ ten and produced by George (Star Wars) Lucas and directed by Steven (Jaws) Spielberg With credits like that, you d na turally expect lots of special effects, action, comedy and su spense And that s what you get as Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) and Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen) whirl their way through |am after jam with edge-of-the-seat suspense and hilarious results The plot is simple enough The Nazis are searching to recover the Ark of the Covenant a gold container used to carry the stone tablets the Ten Com mandments were written on, according to the Old Testament Indiana Jones, an adventurer archeologist, is hired to recover the ark before the Nazis do Ravenwood Jones old flame happens to possess the artifact necessary to locate the missing ark Put the pieces together and you have a movie — an incredi ble movie The picture's strength lies in its keen balance between action and humor Jones and Raven wood trade verbal — and occa sionally physical — blows at every turn, yet Lucas and Spiel berg take special care to make sure the comedy doesn't over whelm the action The result is a precisely produced film that moves so fast you feel as though you're on a roller coaster run by a speed freak In spite of the pace the audience never gets EARN MONEY WHILE YOU STUDY DONATE PLASMA Bring your books in to Eugene Plasma Corp. study for two hours while you donate plasma, and walk out with cash in your pocket. Earn up to $100 a month And remember, bring a friend and get a $5 referral bonus. Bring in this ad and get *5 extra on your first donation. Clean, friendly, medically supervised. Call for an Appmt. 484*2241 Mon, Wed, Fri 8:00-4:00 Tues, Thurs 11:00-6:30 EUGENE PLASMA CORP. 1071 Olive St. lost Everything is nice and tidy, and the movie works like clock work Surprisingly enough, much of this precision wasn't as careful special effects, while awesome, are a little too gruesome (heads blowing up when a simple decapitation would do) These are just minor points, though. Raiders of the Lost Ark is a tongue-in-cheek throwback to the serials of the '30s and '40s. ly planned as one might expect In the funniest scene of the movie. Indiana Jones is faced with a black-clothed assassin wielding a scimitar that makes Excalibur look like a Swiss army knife The story goes that Ford was miserable with a case of dysentery and came up with a new idea for the assassin s demise largely as a way to get out of Tunisia as quickly as possible Raiders of the Lost Ark is a tongue-in-cheek throwback to the serials of the '30s and '40s Everything is there — the rugged hero, the beautiful heroine, the evil villains, fists, machine guns everything It would be hard to sit through the whole film without comparing Harrison Ford to Humphrey Bogart at least once, and bad guy Ronald Lacey would score extremely well in a Peter Lorre look-alike contest Karen Allen isn't exactly the typical heroine of the '30s, considering she punches out and drinks down guys right and left The combin ation works perfectly, however, and we find ourselves faced with another shining addition to the new brand of serial-type movies characterized by Star Wars If there's a weak point to the film, it would have to be that the creators have their tongues too firmly in their cheeks Marion seems to continually run into new situations in which she is forced to wear revealing gowns The bad guys are a little too sadistic and cruel And the ^5 because no one expects the film to be taken seriously It's good clean entertainment, and that's all it’s meant to be So who cares if the char acters are a little flat7 Or if cer tain escapes are a tad bit unbelievable? Raiders of the Lost Ark is magnificent at what it does — entertain •wine 6 i 'cnee/e Discover Valentines. Fine wine and imported cheeses. Serving sandwiches Behind the Fall Creek Bakery. \ <”Mei Lin’s • Best Chinese Fcxxl • Authentic Atmosphere • Friendly Service • Oriental Music Open 5:00-9:30 Mon-Sat Upstairs of the Bamboo Pavilion 1275 Alder St. V_/ /^v Rombow i i Optics 343-3333 SPRING \\ COLORS ! j j IN '/ EYEWEAR 766 E 13th St • Just One Block From Campus
